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Show BUSINESS, A-8 C-1 B-1 TAKE A LEAP INTO THE WORLD’S COLD PLACES MINERS GAVE SEASON THEIR BEST SHOT VOLUNTEER COLUMNS, A-18 THERE IS A BUZZ ABOUT NEW ALCOHOL REGULATIONS WANTED: VOLUNTEERS Help out in your community! Become a volunteer! Volunteer listings can be found on page B-7 TERI ORR KNOWS HOW TO BEAT THIS WINTER’S BLUES Park Record. The PA R K C I T Y, U TA H W W W. PA R K R E C O R D . C O M Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, February 23-26, 2019 Serving Summit County since 1880 Skiers seen in a former resort bowl | Vol. 139 | No. 6 50¢ Slide danger lurks on Park City land Police cite two after they move onto slopes once a part of PCMR JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record The Park City Police Department issued citations to two people in mid-February after they were seen skiing in an upper-elevation bowl that once was part of Park City Mountain Resort but is now out of bounds as a result of the resort losing a lease for the land. The case was reported to the Police Department early in the afternoon on Feb. 16. The two skiers are friends in their mid-20s, the police said. One is from Park City and the other is from North Dakota, according to the Police Department. PCMR said the two skiers entered Scott’s Bowl, which is located off the Jupiter lift. Scott’s Bowl is one of two tracts of terrain once within the resort boundaries. The other is West Scott’s Bowl. The two areas are no longer part of the resort, though. Many PCMR skiers and snowboarders saw the two bowls as some of the resort’s most attractive experts-only terrain. Jay Randall, a police sergeant, said PCMR ski patrollers saw tracks leading into the terrain, followed the tracks and found the two people. The Police Department issued misdemeanor citations for skiing in a closed area. He said the counts cover skiing out of bounds as well. Randall said the two skiers “crossed clearly marked boundaries.” In a prepared statement provided at the request of The Park Record, the resort confirmed the incident. It explained there are concerns about safety in Scott’s Bowl since it is no longer within the resort. “This terrain contains avalanche potential and because it is closed and outside the ski resort boundary, avalanche mitigation work is not performed,” the statement from PCMR said. The Feb. 16 incident followed two months after PCMR announced in mid-December it had closed Scott’s Bowl and West Scott’s Bowl, indicating the landowner opted not to renew the lease. The agreement was in place for longer than 14 years, the resort said at the time. The resort said then it was likely the terrain would not open during the 2018-2019 ski season. The terrain remains on the PCMR trail map posted on the resort’s website. The landowner is a firm called Silver King Mining Company. It has origins dating to Park City’s silver-mining era of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The president of the Silver King Mining Company said at the time the land that had been leased to PCMR covered approximately 115 acres. The firm said in December there had been a lease and a series of renewals negotiated with the former owner of PCMR, describing that SilPlease see Skiers, A-2 3 sections • 40 pages Business ................................. A-8 Classifieds .............................. C-8 Columns ............................... A-18 Crossword .............................. C-4 Editorial................................ A-19 Events Calendar ..................... C-6 Legals ................................... C-11 Letters to the Editor ............. A-19 Restaurant Guide.................. A-17 Scene ...................................... C-1 Scoreboard ............................. B-5 Sports ..................................... B-1 Weather .................................. B-2 COURTESY OF PATRICK BRANDENBURG VIA UTAH OPEN LANDS The Park City-owned Bonanza Flat stretches through approximately 1,350 acres in Wasatch County. City Hall is not aware of an avalanche on Bonanza Flat since it has been under municipal ownership, but there is terrain steep enough for a snow slide. Officials are considering steps City Hall could take to protect people from avalanches on the high-elevation land south of Park City. Bonanza Flat acreage is not like a ‘city park,’ Search and Rescue says JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record A mid-February avalanche in the backcountry south of Park City that buried a skier before the man was rescued did not slide into the nearby City Hallowned Bonanza Flat acreage, but the cascading snow was a fast-moving illustration of the complexities presented by municipal ownership of the approximately 1,350-acre tract of open space. The avalanche occurred just east of Brighton Estates, a Wasatch County cabin community, and in the vicinity of Guardsman Pass. The slide was at an elevation of 9,000 feet close to the borders of Summit, Wasatch and Salt Lake counties. Bonanza Flat is close to the location of the avalanche as well. City Hall acquired Bonanza Flat in 2017 in a $38 million conservation deal. It is the largest of the municipal government’s conservation acquisitions as measured by acreage and is to date the most expensive. Officials continue to craft a management plan for Bonanza Flat and a document known as a conservation easement will eventually outline the types of uses that will be allowed on the land. Leaders are expected to allow non-motorized wintertime recreation on Bonanza Flat, such as cross-country skiing, backcountry skiing and snowshoeing. The recreation lovers, though, will be on land that is largely surrounded by mountains with steep terrain in several Brush up on curling locations in Bonanza Flat itself. Heinrich Deters, the trails and open space program manager at City Hall, said he is not aware of an avalanche on Bonanza Flat since the municipal government acquired the land. Deters said officials are considering steps City Hall could take to protect people from avalanches on Bonanza Flat. As an example, he said, cross-country skiing trails will be put in places that are not prone to avalanches. He also said officials could post signs Please see Danger, A-14 Straight party: straight to the history books? A legislator wants to end the practice of allowing voters to decide along partisan lines ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON The Park Record TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Claire MacInnis, right, uses a broom to sweep the ice Thursday evening as she and her family take part in a curling lesson at the Park City Ice Arena. The MacInnis family learned about the sport and had an opportunity to hone their skills on the ice. Utah could join the majority of states across the county that have banned straight-party voting if a bill to do so passes after similar attempts failed to gain enough support in 2013 and 2016. The earlier bills, which also sought to end a voter’s ability to select candidates running under one party’s banner by marking a single box on the ballot, stalled in the Utah House of Representatives when committees narrowly voted them down. Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Millcreek, is sponsoring this year’s measure, H.B. 259. “This is my third time running this bill, but I’m optimistic it can pass,” she said. “The last time we ran this there were still 12 states that had this. Now, it is less Please see Voting bill, A-2 A veteran steps forward to honor the fallen Bataan Death March retracing will benefit National Ability Center JAMES HOYT The Park Record When the National Ability Center called Matthew Melancon two weeks ago, the assignment initially sounded like a caveat to his existing plans — representing the nonprofit at an endurance event honoring the survivors of the Bataan Death March. Midway through the conversation, though, it became clear that wasn’t exactly the case. He’d been training for an annual event stateside that was to prepare him to climb Denali in Alaska this summer. The NAC had more humidity in mind. “They’re like, ‘Well, you’ll need to be able to run; how well can you run,’” he recalled. The event he’d been training for takes place in White Sands, New Mexico, and while he can march on sand, his leg prostheses don’t interact well with soft terrain when running. That’s when he realized he was being asked to go to the Philippines. Melancon called it an “‘Inception’ moment” when it clicked. “Oh, man.” After some “soul searching,” he agreed. Melancon, a 29-year-old snowboarder and Army combat veteran with a bilateral amputation of both legs beneath his knees, is set to represent the National Ability Center at this year’s edition of the annual military history-themed Epic Charity Challenge. The Park City-based adaptive sports nonprofit is a beneficiary of this year’s endurance challenge, a 160-km relay retracing the Bataan Death March. Please see Steps, A-2 TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Matthew Melancon, a 29-year-old adaptive snowboarder and Army veteran, is participating in the military history-themed Epic Charity Challenge in the Philippines. The event will benefit the Park City-based National Ability Center. VISITOR GUIDE Books, songs and rhymes, in English and Spanish A bilingual story time will be held from 10-11 a.m. every Tuesday at the Park City Library. The event will feature books, songs and rhymes in both English and Spanish. This program is designed to stimulate language development. For information, visit parkcitylibrary.org. |